The Pittsburgh Pirates come to Fenway Park on Thursday to make up the final game of their season-opening series with the Boston Red Sox. And the Red Sox will be hoping for a better result than Wednesday night, which saw them take a 12-5 beating at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles.
The Red Sox switched up the lineup a bit for Thursday’s matinee, giving third baseman Pablo Sandoval, outfielder Chris Young and catcher Sandy Leon the day off. Marco Hernandez will play the hot corner and bat seventh, while Brock Holt will take over in left field and bat last. And with Eduardo Rodriguez on the mound, Christian Vazquez will do the catching and bat out of the No. 8 hole.
Rodriguez is looking for better results than his last start, too, as the left-hander gave up four runs — including two solo home runs — over five innings in a 4-1 loss to the Tigers in Detroit on Saturday. The Pirates could provide an opportunity to bounce back for the 24-year-old, though, after dropping their first two games against Boston and getting swept by the Cincinnati Reds in their most recent series.
In other roster news, the Red Sox activated left-handed reliever Robbie Ross Jr. from the disabled list and optioned right-hander Ben Taylor to Pawtucket.
Here are the lineups for Thursday’s 2:10 p.m. ET matchup.
RED SOX (4-4)
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Andrew Benintendi, CF
Mookie Betts, RF
Hanley Ramirez, DH
Mitch Moreland, 1B
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Marco Hernandez, 3B
Christian Vazquez, C
Brock Holt, LF
Eduardo Rodriguez, LHP (0-1, 7.20 ERA)
PIRATES (3-5)
Jordy Mercer, SS
Starling Marte, CF
Andrew McCutchen, RF
Gregory Polanco, LF
David Freese, DH
Josh Harrison, 3B
Josh Bell, 1B
Phil Gosselin, 2B
Chris Stewart, C
Chad Kuhl, RHP (1-0, 3.60 ERA)
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
